All:

A few weeks ago, I was hired by various Illinois newspapers to provide articles on Lincoln's experiences in various Illinois counties.
I'm posting some of them; this one deals with my home county, Macoupin, which is southward adjacent to Sangamon.



ABRAHAM LINCOLN HAD VARIOUS TIES TO MACOUPIN COUNTY
by Tom Emery
For the Staunton Star-Times

Before his presidency, Abraham Lincoln traveled across Illinois practicing law and campaigning for office, earning countless acquaintances along the way. Some of that time was spent in Macoupin County, particularly in the county seat of Carlinville.

Lincoln visited Carlinville on the circuit as early as April 1837, mere months after he began practicing law. Over the next two decades, he made routine trips to town on the legal circuit and argued cases in the courthouse, then located in the center of the Carlinville square. Over 3,000 Macoupin County court documents with Lincoln’s signature have been uncovered.

In 1991, researchers found a 43-page handwritten document from Lincoln in the current Macoupin County courthouse. It is the largest document in the future President’s handwriting in existence.

While in Carlinville, Lincoln visited John M. Palmer, one of his few close friends. Palmer welcomed Lincoln both in his home at 305 South East Street in Carlinville and law office on the town square.Palmer, a local attorney and delegate to the 1847 state constitutional convention, became a political ally of Lincoln in the late 1850s and served as governor of Illinois from 1869-73.

In the Civil War, Palmer was the original colonel of the 14th Illinois and ascended to major general and corps commander, becoming one of the highest-ranking commanders from Illinois. A statue of Palmer adorns the grounds of the current Illinois statehouse.

During his campaign for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1858, Lincoln delivered an address on East First South Street in Carlinville, a spot now commemorated by a stone marker. Lincoln arrived on the Chicago and Alton depot that morning and was taken to the American House on West Main, and his speech began at 3 p.m., followed by an address from Palmer.

Contrary to popular belief, the appearance was not one of the famed debates with Stephen A. Douglas. Accounts of the reception to Lincoln’s speech vary. The Carlinville Democrat, a Republican paper owned by Palmer and not true to its name, lauded the speech as “honest, logical, and telling.” Other sources note that Lincoln spoke to a “scattered and not overly sympathetic audience.”

During the war, Palmer wrote Lincoln regularly and visited the President in the White House. In 1865, Lincoln appointed Palmer military governor of Kentucky.

A sketch by the late Lloyd Ostendorf, a leading Lincoln artist, depicts Palmer meeting Lincoln at the Chicago and Alton depot in Carlinville, presumably in the mid-to-late 1850s. Lincoln had been a vocal proponent of the proposal to build that railroad, which reached Carlinville in 1852. The Macoupin County towns of Shipman, Plainview, and Virden were developed along the railroad.

Though the town of Gillespie owes its development to a different railroad, there is still a tie to Lincoln. When the town was founded in 1853, it was named for Judge Joseph Gillespie of Edwardsville, a Lincoln friend and associate. According to local legend in Staunton, Lincoln was a friend of Dr. John Binney and a regular visitor in the Binney home in Staunton.

One of the hallmarks of Macoupin County owes its existence to a Lincoln courtroom defeat. In 1837, the Deed of Trust was established for Blackburn Theological Seminary (later Blackburn College), but by 1845, the school existed only on paper. As a result, the Blackburn Board of Trustees, in an effort to fulfill at least a portion of the College’s mission, determined to transfer the massive Blackburn land holdings to Illinois College in return for the creation of a Blackburn Chair of Theology at the Jacksonville school.

In 1850, the Blackburn heirs decided that the Deed of Trust had been violated, and filed suit for return of the lands. Illinois College retained Lincoln as one of two attorneys to argue their case, which became known as Gilman v. Hamilton. In 1855, the court ruled against Lincoln, and the formation of Blackburn proceeded.

Like most surrounding counties, Macoupin County, a Democratic stronghold, voted against Lincoln in both the 1860 and 1864 Presidential elections. His assassination, though, ensured him as a martyr, and in 1904 a statue of Lincoln in Bunker Hill was erected through the efforts of local Civil War veterans.

In recent months, Carlinville has launched a marketing campaign that highlights Lincoln’s ties to the city.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and researcher from Carlinville. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.



LINCOLN TIES TO MENARD GO BEYOND NEW SALEM
by Tom Emery
For the Petersburg Observer

Some of Abraham Lincoln’s connections to Menard County are well-documented, including his time in New Salem from 1831-1837, his many friends and acquaintances, and his possible courtship of Ann Rutledge. But there are plenty of other interesting, lesser-known facts on Lincoln’s experiences in the county.

Lincoln surveyed the town of Petersburg in 1835-36, but he also played a significant role in the formation of Menard County. In January 1839, he wrote a bill in the Illinois legislature to create the counties of Menard, Logan, and Dane (now Christian). All three counties were established on Feb. 15, 1839.

Like many others, Lincoln supported advances in infrastructure, and sponsored bills to create roads to and from Petersburg. In July 1837, he sponsored a bill to create a state road from Beardstown to Petersburg, while in January 1840, he wrote and introduced a bill to build a state road from Petersburg to Waverly. Both bills passed the legislature.

While riding the legal circuit in the 1840s, Lincoln visited Menard County twice a year, usually in the summer and fall. Though Lincoln relished the opportunity to visit old friends while in town, he brought a practical approach to his job. In a case in November 1841, he requested an attachment for Mentor Graham, his old teacher from his New Salem days, for contempt for failing to appear as a witness.
In a separate case on Nov. 4, 1845, he represented the plaintiff in a suit against Graham, who was sued for a debt of $112.23.

On the way to Menard County for that session of the circuit, Lincoln apparently thought better of his often-disheveled appearance. The day before the case, he stopped at a store and purchased a pair of suspenders for a dollar.

Lincoln had surveyed the site of the town of Huron in 1836 and owned land there. But on one occasion, paying the taxes slipped his mind. In April 1842, a published list of delinquent Menard County taxpayers indicated that Lincoln had failed to pay property taxes on a lot in Huron that was valued at two dollars. The unpaid taxes on the lot were one cent.

Petersburg was also a frequent campaign stop for Lincoln during his political career, and he relied on his many friends for key support. During his bid for Congress in 1843, he wrote a letter to Martin S. Morris of Petersburg, a Whig delegate and supporter, thanking him for his efforts. “While the people of Sangamon have cast me off,” wrote Lincoln, “my old friends of Menard who have known me the longest and best of any, still retain their confidence in me.” Lincoln did not earn the nomination.

He made several memorable campaign appearances in the late 1850s, including a speech in Petersburg on Aug. 30, 1856 that demonstrated the partisan nature of local media in the era. In Springfield, the Illinois State Journal described Lincoln’s appearance to a “very large and attentive audience” with “most telling effect.”

The Illinois State Register, the rival Springfield paper, printed a letter to the editor mocking Lincoln as “that great high-priest of abolitionism” and his “spasmodic convulsions” during his speech.

However, his New Salem roots helped little in his Presidential campaigns. Lincoln failed to carry Menard County in either of his Presidential elections, losing by 73 votes in 1860 and 221 in 1864. Like most of central Illinois, Menard was highly divided on national issues. Lincoln narrowly lost Sangamon County in both Presidential elections and carried Springfield by a mere ten votes in his 1864 re-election bid. Lincoln also lost Mason, Cass, and Fulton counties in both 1860 and 1864.

Still, an 1858 incident near Petersburg offered a touch of irony. On Oct. 29, Lincoln spoke in town to a “large and enthusiastic assembly” during his legendary Senate campaign against Stephen A. Douglas. After leaving town, a thunderstorm struck the area, and Lincoln sought shelter in a box car on a nearby rail line.

Sitting in the car with Henry Villard, a noted reporter and future railroad baron, Lincoln began discussing his political history and said that his highest political goal as a youth was election to the state legislature.

Now, he said his wife Mary thought he would be both senator and President. Whether sincere or not, Lincoln scoffed at the notion, declaring “just think of such a sucker as me as President!”


Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.

We were discussing blue mass in another thread. Dr. Norbert Hirschhorn researched the effect taking blue mass may have had on Abraham Lincoln. Hirschhorn states that Lincoln was known to have mood swings and angry outbursts. An example he gives is as follows:

Another incident recounted by Lamon's daughter supposedly occurred during one of the famous 1858 Senate debates between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. In response to an accusation by Douglas about Lincoln's record in Congress, Lincoln furiously grabbed the collar of a former congressional colleague who, Lincoln said, knew the charge was false. While making his point, Lincoln shook the man "until his teeth chattered."

Is anyone familiar with this occurrence? It was new to me. I do not know its veracity.

I had an interesting phone call today from a gentleman in upstate New York who has a miniature oil on ivory depicting Lincoln, Douglas, and Speed. He believes that it was painted by one of the artists in Canandaigua, New York.

The gentleman says that Stephen Douglas and Lincoln once opposed each other in a court case held in Canandaigua. Does anyone (Herb?) have information on this? I know that Lincoln went against Stanton in the Manny vs. McCormick Reaper Case held in Cincinnati, but what about Douglas vs. Lincoln on the legal matters?

P.S. I referred the gentleman to Harold Holzer.

P.P.S. It was also the first time that I have actually talked to someone who believes that there is (and has been) world control under the auspices of The Illuminati. For awhile, I read up on that theory, but finally got disgusted and gave up. Of course, some think that the Illuminati disposed of Lincoln.

In 1846, Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress and he pledged to serve only one term, in Congress. Why?

Last October members from this Symposium gathered in Springfield to tour the Lincoln sites in and around that city. One of the places visited was Old Concord Cemetery, the real burial site of Ann Rutledge. In that cemetery are many of the people who befriended Lincoln and helped to shape his character.

On many previous visits to the cemetery there was no marker for Ann's father, James Rutledge. In fact, chroniclers of the burials there were uncertain as to where his grave might be located. He died only months after his daughter Ann. I have checked the records of burials for Old Concord and James's grave is not listed as one of the known ones, although he is listed as having been buried there.

In 1890 when McGrady Rutledge was helping Montgomery located Ann's grave so that he could disinter her remains and relocate them to a new cemetery located in nearby Petersburg, the grave of Ann's brother David was used as a reference point since his grave marker was there (it still is). No mention was made of Ann's father being buried next to her, although it is a distinct possibility since he died so soon after she did.

I have been in contact with one of the chronicler's of the graves and she does not know who placed the new marker indicating James Rutledge's grave or when it was placed there. It was not there when I visited Old Concord on two separate occasions in 2012. I am in contact with others in Menard County who might help me. I will let you know what I learn.

I found three View-Master reels at my parents house called the, "Lincoln Heritage Trail". I posted the Ford's Theatre and Petersen House images on my site, but I thought it would be fun to share the other images from the reels here. First, you can read the booklet that came with the reels here:

http://kipbrockman.com/viewmaster/booklets/A390.HTM

Here are my attempts at photographing the images from inside the View-Master along with the caption provided for each image.

"1. Girlhood home of Nancy Hanks, Mother of Lincoln"


"2. Lincoln's birthplace, near Hodgenville, Kentucky"


"3. Replica of his early childhood home, Knob Creek"


"4. Monument marks his boyhood home in Indiana"


"5. Grave of Lincoln's mother"


"6. Indiana cabin replica show Abe studying by fireplace"


"7. Lincoln trail monument marks entry into Illinois"


"8. Lincoln-Berry store interior, New Salem, Illinois"


"9. Statue of young Lincoln at restored New Salem"


"10. Ann Rutledge grave, Petersburg, Ill."

I visited New Bedford this weekend and was told that Lincoln had visited the city. I did a little research and found this article published in 2009. It's interesting that Lincoln is described as having "sad eyes" even in 1848.

The author of the article, Deacon James N. Dunbar, writes, "But what I learned that day was that Lincoln as a member of Congress had actually visited New Bedford to make a political speech, as well as another in Taunton, as he toured Massachusetts from September 12 to 21 in 1848 stumping in support of General Zachary Taylor, the Whig candidate for president.

"What was even more interesting was that while as youngsters we had learned how Lincoln grew up in a log cabin in Illinois, his connection to Massachusetts dated to 1637, when his English ancestor, Samuel Lincoln — actually his great-great-great-great-grandfather — arrived in the new colony and settled in Hingham on Cape Cod where he was employed as a weaver. Many of Samuel Lincoln’s descendents remained in Hingham for generations."

http://www.anchornews.org/news/february_...2009_4.php

Abraham and Mary Lincoln spent many years as a married couple in their Springfield home. They had a family there- the boys. This thread will be for fun and imagination is a necessity. How do you suppose the Lincolns celebrated Christmas? What do we know about this? What kind of gifts were bought? What do you suppose Abraham bought Mary? And what did Mary get for Abraham? Was there a Christmas tree in the home? I don't suppose Mr. Lincoln ever dressed up as Santa? Imagine Abraham going into downtown Springfield thinking: "Now what do I get Mary?"

Here are photos, information, and a short video about the effort to restore the c. 1830s horsehair-upholstered sofa on which Abraham and Mary Lincoln courted.

Second group of photos.

Representative Lincoln boyhood cabin in living history village.


Bas relief sculpture representing Lincoln in Kentucky.


Lincoln in Indiana


Lincoln in Illinois


Lincoln in Washington


Lincoln belonging to the ages


Not sure if I ever posted this. It's me kneeling next to the grave of Carl Sandburg in Galesburg, Illinois.


Best
Rob